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Taylor Stappord
}} '''Taylor Stappord' is one of the main characters on Devious Maids. She is the young and beautiful trophy wife of Michael Stappord, but Taylor's life of glitz and glamour isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Always having to fight her husband's ex-wife for attention, Taylor ends up befriending her new maid and tries to conceive a child. Ultimately, she loses the child due to a gunshot to the stomach, leaving Beverly Hills and planning to adopt a child with her husband. They end up with Katy Stappord, a young girl with "emotional problems", and return to their old home with a new mystery in tow. Biography 'Early Life' }} Taylor was born in Iowa in 1982, deciding twenty years later to move to Los Angeles so that she may fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. However, the only job she's able to land is that of a waitress, working for six years in some diner across the street from Paramount, barely able to make end's meat on such a salary. But, one day she is approached by Adrian Powell, and he tells her that he has a lot of lonely rich friends in need of... company, offering Taylor a way to make some easy money. This leads to her becoming a prostitute in Beverly Hills, and Adrian sets her up with his unhappily married friend Michael Stappord, a successful lawyer. Unintentionally, Michael and Taylor fall in love with one another and their affair becomes long term; he ends up leaving his wife, famous decorator Olivia Rice, and marrying his mistress, but he is submissive in his divorce and his new bride is forced to sacrifice beloved maid Lupe to Olivia. 'Season 1 }} Taylor and Michael interview a new maid, Marisol Duarte, following the reluctant departure of Lupe. The beautiful blonde is initially hesitant to hire such a well-spoken newcomer, wanting her old maid back, but Marisol agrees to work on a trial basis, saying that if the Stappords are unhappy with her services after one week then she'll leave. Marisol later happens across a crying Taylor and wonders what's wrong. Taylor doesn't believe that Marisol would be able to understand the kind of problem she's having, but the maid disagrees, assuring her new employer that she gives excellent advice. Caving, Taylor admits that her problem stems from the first Mrs. Stappord, Olivia Rice; Marisol recognizes her name and knows her to be a famous interior decorator, hearing that everything in the household was personally selected by her prior to the divorce. Taylor wants to change things and make her home more to her taste, but Michael is worried that this might offend Olivia, hence her tears. Marisol assures her that in the grand scheme of things, she's still the winner, and an ex-wife's throw pillows hardly compare to the likes of good health and an adoring husband... which only confirms Taylor's suspicions that Marisol wouldn't understand her problem. At Michael's birthday dinner, Olivia drops in and makes a scene, throwing a crystal heart against the wall as a visual metaphor for how her heart was broken when Michael left her for a younger model. Taylor begs that her husband do something, but it is Marisol who steps in. She manhandles Olivia out the door, to the applause of the party guests, and this convinces Taylor that her new maid is worthy of a full-time position. Unbeknownst to her, however, Marisol is actually undercover, trying to exonerate her son of Flora Hernandez's recent murder. }} Marisol approaches Evelyn Powell and offers to work for her on her days off, already having cleaned the room in which Flora was stabbed, and Evelyn would be delighted to finally land a new maid... but first Marisol must secure Taylor's permission, because it is absolutely unforgivable to steal a woman's maid in Beverly Hills. When Marisol asks, Taylor wholeheartedly denies her consent, assuring her new employee that the Powells are in no way her true friends. However, when Adrian hears that he's lost the chance to have the mysterious and beautiful Marisol working in his home, he approaches Taylor and threatens to expose her past as one of his prostitutes should she continue to deny him access to her maid. When Marisol returns to the Stappord mansion, she finds Taylor crying due to this conversation before saying that she can work for the Powells whenever she so wishes. Marisol wants to know what Adrian said to Taylor to change her mind, but Taylor replies that all Marisol needs to know is that Adrian can be very persuasive when he wants to be... and cruel. }} Taylor goes shopping with Marisol to prepare for a dinner party and, at the supermarket, they run into Olivia. The latter apologizes to Marisol for the way she acted at Michael's birthday party, and Marisol accepts the apology, but urges her to apologize to Taylor as well. However, Olivia refuses to, and reveals that Taylor used to be a prostitute. Later, over drinks, Taylor explains to Marisol how she got into the sex trade business, and Marisol recommends that she tells Michael about Olivia's knowledge before the latter spreads it. Taylor requests that Marisol be by her side when she tells him. When they finally break the news to Michael, he decides that they all should leave to New York, an idea that doesn't please the women. Marisol later tells Michael that she can't move because of personal reasons, and suggests that she talk to Olivia and find out how she discovered the truth and what her intentions are. Later, Marisol stops by Olivia's with the pretext of bringing her some mail, and starts complaining about Taylor, hoping to ingratiate herself to Michael's ex-wife. Olivia asks her in for tea, and Marisol tells Olivia that Taylor is terrified that she might tell people the truth, and that the Stappords want to move to New York. She then lies and tells the old woman that Michael is still in love with her and will probably want her back, so it's best for Olivia if they don't move. Olivia decides to write Taylor a letter to let her know she won't tell anyone. She then asks how Olivia found out about Taylor's past, and Olivia reveals that she was told by Evelyn Powell. Marisol tells Taylor, who is delighted, and she then asks her boss to explain to her what is going on with Adrian and his prostitutes. Taylor explains that he hires women to seduce his inebriated friends during intimate get-togethers, while the friends have no idea of what is going on, and then he simply disappears when the time for love-making comes. Marisol is confused, and wonders what Adrian could get out of this... }} When Marisol is snooping around the Powell house, she comes across one of Adrian's many DVDs which features Michael and Taylor having sex from when the latter was a prostitute. She is forced to abandon viewing due to the sudden appearance of Evelyn, and when she returns to continue collecting evidence, the DVD has been moved. Therefore, she decides to go in another direction: she makes martinis for Michael and Taylor and reveals to them that Adrian has a collection of DVDs of Taylor's sessions. Marisol offers to steal them, but she'd have to know where he keeps them stored. Michael keeps drinking, and Taylor asks them if he knew anything, but he doesn't respond and storms out. The women follow him to the Powell house, concerned, to find Michael beating up Adrian and demanding to know where the DVDs are. Evelyn shows up with a baseball bat, however, and intimidates Michael into stopping. She then takes Marisol to a room hidden at the end of a hallway where she sees a camera pointing at a one-way glass, on the other side of which is the bedroom where the prostitution sessions took place. On the walls are several shelves filled with an extensive collection of DVDs. Evelyn picks up the Taylor collection, on their way, Evelyn tells Marisol that she is fired. }} Marisol realizes on her way to the store that she's forgotten her wallet, but when she returns to the Stappord mansion to retrieve it, she is shocked to discover Taylor and Michael making love atop the kitchen counter. They fall off in disgrace and try to apologize, ingratiating themselves in their maid's eyes by revealing that they're trying to get pregnant. Because of this, Marisol offers to take her boss to a fertility clinic she's familiar with, and Taylor is grateful for such an opportunity, having been worried that Michael might leave her if she's barren the same way he left his childless marriage to Olivia. Marisol assures her against this, knowing that Michael adores her, and, at the clinic, Taylor asks her friend how she knew of such a place. Marisol reveals that she herself found out she was infertile there, but it was okay because she and her husband simply adopted. This comes as a shock to Taylor because she thought Marisol had no family, and so the fake maid quickly fabricates that she had to give the child back after she divorced her ex. An apologetic Taylor then bumps into Joan Fisher, an old friend of Olivia who has no qualms in telling the first Mrs. Stappord that Michael is attempting to impregnate his new wife. Olivia is distraught and appears in the Stappords' kitchen, only to be warded off yet again by Marisol who is forced to break the old woman's heart all over again by revealing that she lied about Michael still having feelings for her. }} Taylor is pregnant and can't wait to share the news with absolutely everyone she knows, but Michael is worried about word getting out because of how Olivia might react. To avoid her having to find out the hard way, Michael pays his ex-wife a visit and amicably breaks the news that he's successfully starting a family with Taylor, to her dismay. Marisol, meanwhile, convinces her beautiful blonde employer to have a dinner party to announce the pregnancy officially, having an agenda that involves talking to her son's old catering colleague about something to do with Flora's murder. Taylor is at first hesitant by the amount of guests who end up arriving, but everything turns out for the best and the Stappords are able to joyously announce the good news to all their friends. The festivities are cut short however when Marisol spots something horrifying outside... Olivia Rice is hanging by the neck from a tree, attempting suicide due to Taylor's pregnancy. Everyone is shocked and Michael quickly works to have her cut down, crying over the possibility of his former spouse's death. Taylor is deeply saddened to see how much he obviously still cares for her. }} Michael misses Taylor's first scan, where she heard the baby's heartbeat, because he was busy visiting Olivia in hospital. Taylor is very unhappy with how often he's been doing this and they fight about it, leading the beautiful blonde to seek out Marisol for some of her legendary good advice; however, the maid is absent from the house because she's secretly meeting with someone. The next day, the undercover maid suggests that Taylor go with her husband on these visits to prove her support and remind him of her presence in the marriage. Taylor commends Marisol on being so smart and wonders where she was last night, pointing out that she tells her everything about her life while she knows nothing about Marisol's. Marisol assures her employer that her life just isn't that interesting; meanwhile, she's been setting up a "surprise" meeting between Michael, Remi Delatour and her lawyer Ida Hayes, all in her efforts to exonerate her son of Flora Hernandez's murder. The meeting does not go well and merely makes Michael suspicious of Marisol, for she didn't exactly try hard to keep Ida from entering his home. Taylor later discovers Marisol eavesdropping outside her husband's office, which she finds strange. She decides to follow her maid's advice and go to the hospital with Michael, to his joy, and while there she tells him of what she found Marisol doing, wanting to think nothing of it because of what a good friend Marisol has been to her since she was hired. He tells her to keep an eye on their maid... he believes she could have some sort of an ulterior motive for working for them. }} Curious about Philippe Delatour and his involvement with Flora's death, Marisol asks Taylor a few questions, knowing Philippe to be one of Michael's most faithful clients. Taylor doesn't really know anything, only that Philippe pays Michael a grand wealth of money, and grows suspicious when her maid continues to press the matter. Because of this, Taylor decides to phone her husband and tell him the kind of things Marisol's been asking, leading in turn to Michael telling Philippe. With the latter's private investigators at his disposal, Michael is able to find out that Marisol's real surname is Suarez: she is the mother of the boy arrested for the murder of Flora Hernandez. This too is told to Philippe, who assures his lawyer that he's already "taken care" of the matter. Michael now knows that Marisol is in danger and confronts her with the truth, advising her to leave as fast as she can before Philippe's gunman can track her down. Taylor, awaking from the nap she took due the tire of being pregnant, also becomes wary of the truth about her maid, not caring so long as Marisol never lied about being her friend, which she didn't. She insists that she stay so that they themselves can protect her, but when she goes outside to retrieve Marisol's bags, Philippe's gunman confuses her with his target and Taylor is shot in the torso. She collapses to the ground, blood pouring from her wound, and Michael is devastated to find her in such a state. With her employer's life in critical condition, Marisol rushes away to phone an ambulance. }} With a bullet in her stomach, Taylor is rushed through hospital with Marisol and Michael fast in her wake. The latter warns the doctors that his wife is pregnant and they promise to do all that they can to preserve the baby... but they can't. Taylor is left miscarried and Michael is utterly crushed by the news. After hearing about this herself, Marisol enters her employer's hospital room and begs Michael to tell her about Philippe, needing to exonerate her son. Michael refuses, pointing out that he's Philippe's lawyer and so nothing he tells the undercover maid will hold up in a court of law; all that would happen is he would be throwing away his legal license and Marisol still wouldn't be able to touch Philippe. However, a previously unconscious Taylor utters her husband's name, and she orders him to tell Marisol what she needs to know. Michael warns her against this, but she points out that Philippe killed their baby, and so he deserves what's coming to him. Adhering to this point of view, Michael asks Marisol where he should start, and so she requests that he tell her about the night Flora Hernandez was murdered. Season 2 Following the death of Philippe and the subsequent exoneration of her son, Marisol quits her job as the Stappords' maid and returns to her work as an English professor at a university in California. However, while her cleaning career may be behind her, Marisol remains close with her former employers. }} Three months later, Taylor stops by Marisol's new home, which so happens to be a extensive mansion belonging to her former maid's new fiancé, Nicholas Deering. While there, Taylor reveals that Michael has been offered a good position as a lawyer over in Washington, D.C., meaning the two of them will be leaving Beverly Hills very soon; furthermore, they've been talking recently about adopting a child, garnering much congratulations from Marisol. The two of them discuss the latter's engagement, with Taylor calling Nick a "hunk", as well as her new maid Opal, who serves them in a seemingly begrudged manner. Taylor picks up on this but Marisol assures her that everything is fine... but Taylor can't help herself, knowing there to be gossip afoot and needing to hear it all. Marisol reveals her suspicions that Nicholas and Opal had an affair, resulting in Ethan, Opal's son. Taylor advises her maid to dig around her fiancé's financial records, for if Ethan is his son then he will surely have put some money aside for him. However, Marisol cannot do this because a prenuptial agreement never took place, meaning the records were never available to her or her lawyer. Taylor is shocked by this, and Marisol says that it's because Nicholas trusts her. The beautiful blonde sees this as ironic, because if Nicholas didn't trust Marisol then it would be far easier for Marisol to trust him. Season 3''' At a unspecified moment after their departure, Taylor and Michael adopted a little girl named Katy. However, the adoption was not legal, which force the Stappords to lie about it. Moreover, Katy appeared to act quite weirdly, which let Michael to think she has some emotional problems and to act coldy towards her. Taylor is really attentive and understanding with Katy, creating some tensions between her and Michael and pushing Katy to think Taylor also does not love Michael, just like her. At an unknown moment after Katy's adoption, the Stappords came back to Beverly Hills to live in the house they rented to Spence Westmore. }} Finding Katy in Evelyn's garden, Michael and Taylor introduce their adoptive daughter to her. In her living room, Evelyn is serving some tea to Taylor and Michael, saying she had no idea that they came back to town. They reveal they've been back for a while, but have been busy with Katy. Evelyn asks where they found her, resulting is a nervous glance between the two Stappords, and Taylor quickly answers Argentina, saying Michael had business there so they visited an orphanage. She adds they knew that Katy was their daughter at the first look. Noticing Katy is not talking at all, Evelyn asks if she is dumb. Michael says Katy has some emotional problems. Taylor adds she had a tough start in life but she is adjusting. Evelyn decides to give chocolate to Katy, and leaves the room. Taylor asks why Michael said emotional problems, and the latter one retorts why Argentina. Taylor answers they can't say the truth. Katy gives a strange look at Taylor. Later, Blanca is hired by Taylor and Michael. On her first day at the job, the Stappords must head to the book signing for Marisol, and Taylor does not want to leave Katy alone so she plans to bring her with them. Michael asks Blanca to watch over Katy, while he goes to talk privately with Taylor. While Blanca is preparing her snack, Katy tells her that she and her mom do not love her dad. Blanca finds that really strange. At the book signing party, Genevieve says to Taylor and Michael she is happy for them about having Katy, especially since they missed all the difficult parts since Katy is older. Michael assures they do not miss any difficult parts, and he leaves while Taylor is embarrassed. After the party, Blanca heads to the Stappord house to move her stuff in. Taylor is crying while she tries to clean something in the living room. She tries to stop her from walking in to the living-room. When Blanca enters in the room, she discovers a bloody crime scene. Blanca asks Taylor what happened, and she does not answer. }} At the Stappord house, Taylor asks Katy to stay in her bedroom, while she joins Blanca in the living room, where she is finishing cleaning up the blood stains. Taylor told her that a burglar broke in to her house and she stabbed him. Taylor begs her not to tell anyone what happened. Blanca promises she will not tell it. The next day, Marisol visits Taylor. She says that she just came to drop off some paperwork for Michael about her new company – she was hoping Michael would handle the legal stuff for her. Taylor is unable to say to Marisol when Michael will be home, but she promises to tell him that she stopped by. That night, Figueroa arrives at Taylor’s house. He tells her they found the severed leg, so he comes to ask to everyone what they did at the moment of the crime. Taylor tells him she was at her house, and the detective gives her his card, in case she remembers something. Blanca, who heard everything, is furious and accuses Taylor of lying to her. The maid starts packing her bags, while Taylor says she cans explain everything. A still angry Blanca asks her employer if the burglar is dead. Taylor confirms it. Blanca is quite shocked and asks if Taylor killed him. The latter refuses to answer, and she begs her to not say anything to the police, explaining that Katy’s adoption was not legal. Blanca leaves. The next night, Blanca heads back to the Stappord house, and sees Taylor on the phone through the window. Taylor is saying to the person that it was supposed to take care of everything, so she does not understand why the police went to ask her questions about the leg. Then, Taylor notices Blanca, and she asks her what she cans do for her, and Blanca explains her promess to her mother and her situation. Taylor tells her she comes back to work for her, she will get a pretty big raise. She adds she will be able to finish college. Blanca reassures her that she will be so grateful... and quiet. Taylor seems happy that the women found a compromise, and she goes to get her checkbook. Someone is screaming at the Stappord house. Taylor is comforting Katy in her bedroom. While Blanca arrives and asks if everything is all right, Taylor puts Katy back into her bed and tells Blanca the little girl had another nightmare. Blanca replies she wants to show something to Taylor. She shows the strange paitings she found in Katy's bedroom, saying she thinks Katy saw the intruder attack. Taylor refuses to believe it, saying she was sleeping, but Blanca retorts what else these paitings could be. Taylor seems a bit lost, and says she will talk with Katy. She takes the paitings, which ended up in the trash. The next day, Blanca shows Katy's paintings to Taylor, while she is preparing a snack. Blanca tells Taylor she was not sure why she would thrown them away but then she talked to Katy. Blanca adds the girl told her the truth about what happened that night. She adds she thinks Taylor is covering up what Katy did. Taylor does not understand, and Blanca says she knows she loves her, but if Katy is capable of doing something like this then she needs help. Taylor replies Katy did not do anything, but Blanca retorts she killed Michael, which explains why Taylor does not want to go to the police because she is protecting Katy. At this moment, Taylor calls Michael, and the latter enters in the room. Blanca is shocked while Taylor gives her an angry look to Blanca. The next day, Taylor discovers Blanca tries to tell the truth to Michael about the night of the bloody crime. She interrupts them, saying she needs Blanca to run to the pharmacy, because her prescription is ready. Blanca retorts she could go later. Taylor replies she has to do it now. After Blanca left, Taylor gives a hug to Michael, saying they could go out to dinner as a family that night since he is back now. Michael agrees, and Taylor says she will make a reservation. She goes outside the house and gives a call to someone. She says to the person she is calling that she has got a problem. That night, Blanca is kidnapped. Trivia *Of the main characters, Taylor has only formally met with Marisol, Rosie, Carmen, Valentina, Evelyn, Adrian, Michael, Remi, Genevieve, Opal, and Ernesto. **After "Crimes of the Heart", it can be presumed she also met Spence, since he rented her and Michael's home for the second season. Gallery This is a gallery of photographic stills released to promote the character. Promo 101 13.png Promo 101 14.png Promo 101 24.png Promo 101 25.png Promo 108 09.png Promo 108 10.png Promo 108 11.png Promo 108 12.png Promo 108 13.png Promo 108 14.png Promo 108 16.png Promo 110 01.png Promo 110 02.png Promo 110 12.png Promo 110 13.png Promo 110 14.png Promo 110 15.png Promo 110 16.png Promo 110 17.png Promo 110 20.png Promo 112 18.png Promo 112 19.png Promo 301 01.png Promo 301 07.png Promo 302 07.png Promo 302 08.png Promo 302 09.png Promo 302 10.png Category:Main Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Featured Articles